Society Events

AGM Weekend

4-5th July 2020

Maidstone Museum, Kent

Our 2020 AGM will be held at the Maidstone Museum, which was established in 1858, and with more than 600,000 artefacts and specimens, it represents one of the best and largest collections in the south east outside of London. It has been compared to a small Victoria & Albert Museum, British Museum, and Natural History Museum all rolled into one, right at the heart of the Garden of England!

The museum has various collections – Ancient Egyptian, Archaeological, Costumes & Textiles, Ethnography, Natural History & Biology, Geology, Fine & Decorative Arts, aswell as Local History, and we hope to be able to ‘see behind the scenes’ with Sam Harris in the afternoon.

One of the highlights of our visit will be to see the 17th century beadwork basket, given to the museum by Lady Cornwallis, which has a figure similar to one on the Holburne Museum basket we saw in Bath back in 2014.

Please bring any beads or bead-related items, recently-acquired or otherwise, for display on our usual ‘Bring & Show’ tables.

The approximate timetable (as usual) will be as follows:

•10.30–11.00 Arrive at the Museum, chat. Set up ‘Bring & Show’ items. Tea/Coffee etc

•11.00–12.30 AGM & ‘Show and Tell’

•12.30–2.00 Lunch

•2.00–4.30 We will be able to look at items on display and examine beads and beadwork from the Museum’s reserve collections shown to us by Sam Harris.

3d Framing of Cabouchons Class at the AGM

In this workshop, Liz will teach how to create a 3-dimensional framework to surround cabochons and stones. There will be detailed instructions for framing lucite cabochons: 18mm round, 25mm x 18mm oval and 22mm square. There will also be general instructions for framing irregularly shaped stones.

Participants are encouraged to bring along stones they have collected over the years, but not known what to do with them once home!

The main technique used for the framework is Right Angle Weave and a good understanding of the stitch is essential for this course.

If you would like to book a place on this workshop, please contact Carole (email, phone or post). Details on p. 2 of the journal.

More details and materials list later.